Chrysler firing 800 dealers Thursday

[AmpedNow]

Doesn't Toyota, even with its huge sales, have less dealerships than Chrysler did.

When you drive a Toyota, you realize how few dealerships they have compared to the domestics. It's probably a 4:1 ratio.

Consequently, there is little competition and the service departments will rape you any chance they get.

I'm sure this is intentional on Toyota's part. But it's probably not a bad business plan, since they have yet to announce any dealership closings.

[The Interpreter]

Yeah, you'll find out by going to your local Chevy dealer and seeing it padlocked.

GM dealers notified do not have to close until fall of next year. Nor do they have to tell anyone at this time.

As of now, no Huntington-Ashland GM dealers report receiving a letter from corporate:

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/bri ... -corporate

[cgarison]

Doesn't Toyota, even with its huge sales, have less dealerships than Chrysler did.

When you drive a Toyota, you realize how few dealerships they have compared to the domestics. It's probably a 4:1 ratio.

Yes! That was a huge factor in me choosing to move away from Subaru to Jeep back in late 1995. Knowing that I could get parts for a Cherokee almost anywhere versus being raped by Jeff Morris or his father-in-law at Suburban Subaru in St. Albans was chief going to an American manufactured vehicle.

With some of the dealer shifts, I have to admit that Mercury dealers are not as convenient as they were a year ago with Northeast Lincoln Mercury closing and becoming a part of Chapman, but at least I have 4 dealers for parts/service within 25 miles of my pad in Philly and 1 dealer within a mile of my house in KY.

[The Interpreter]

...the latter true for now. Rumor has it that franchise may be moving very soon to a location near a major river, that once advertised with a blue tick hound...

[cgarison]

...the latter true for now. Rumor has it that franchise may be moving very soon to a location near a major river, that once advertised with a blue tick hound...

That would not surprise me. I personally have documented vehicles that have set on that lot for over 14 months. I am afraid that is way too long for a vehicle to set prior to purchasing. A manger at the place with the blue tick hound told me that some of their staff had documented a couple of VINs that had set on the lot for 2 years (or at least since it opened.)

Ford has also made a point of making dealers into Ford/Lincoln/Mercury outlets instead of Ford dealers competing with Lincoln Mercury dealers. In fact, I can only think of one place in the Delaware Valley where a Ford dealer sets across the street from a competing Lincoln Mercury store. Both have been on shaky ground and the (prominent) owner of one of the dealers has been vocal in begging for bailout money as two of his three business teeter on the edge of bankruptcy and the third is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I am pretty sure that the combination of the small portion of lot set aside for Lincoln-Mercury (compared to other makes) slow sales of cars, and managers/salespeople that think every thing with rear drive is a "hot rod," Ford is looking to move shop.

Plus, the lawsuits and battles due to customers coming back from test drives (with dealer staff at the controls) of other manufacturer's cars and being taken away in ambulances due to serious whiplash and trauma probably has Ford concerned as well.

[Jet Black]

Side note, the last independent Mercury dealer closed about a year or so ago, in Cannonsburg PA.

[The People's DJ]

In my area we have three Chrysler dealers. Two of them are getting the axe. But they sell other "brands".

And on a side note, maybe this will help cut down on all the car dealer ads? God, its like every two minutes I hear one. Drives me mad.

[David Paleg]

And on a side note, maybe this will help cut down on all the car dealer ads?

That's a dangerous thing to say on a message board with members who make a living from such ads. (But I agree.)

[Lester]

I doubt that. The remaining dealers will need to increase their own personal brand recognition. We might get down to one per stopset though, and that's NEVER a bad thing.

[Tom Taggart]

Very dangerous.
With fewer dealers, the temptation for the agencies is to rely upon TV entirely, cutting out radio. Agencies love TV--higher rates=bigger commissions-less work in placing the schedules (e.g. 2 or 3 TV stations as opposed to a dozen or more radio stations in a given market).

Often the dealers got us the agency buy--since the smaller, rural dealers would be more active on the "dealer's boards" that advised the manufacturer on the placement of co-op money--and they got very little benefit from money spent on TV and newspaper ads. Especially where their region includes a large city 70~90 miles away, and all the advertising dollars ended up there.

Once "Obama Motors" is created out of the wreckage of GM and Chrysler, there will be no more rural dealers except for Ford.
But then, the second dip of the "W" recession created by this administration will take "General Chrysler" into a real bankruptcy anyway. Leaving Chevrolet/Buick as much smaller company and Jeep being sold off to someone else. Fiat will flee, getting the "punto" once again that Americans won't buy glorified golf carts until gas hits $6 a gallon.

[Lester]

Once "Obama Motors" is created out of the wreckage of GM and Chrysler, there will be no more rural dealers except for Ford.

Too bad "Volkswagen" was already taken.

[CoolBreeze]

Side note, the last independent Mercury dealer closed about a year or so ago, in Cannonsburg PA.

When you say "Mercury", do you mean Mercury alone? Cause we still have a stand alone Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Charleston that has been on shaky ground for years.

[The Interpreter]

Yes, he means Mercury. There are still many standalone Lincoln-Mercury dealerships, but that was the last standalone Mercury dealership...

[CoolBreeze]

Once "Obama Motors" is created out of the wreckage of GM and Chrysler, there will be no more rural dealers except for Ford.

[Hoosier Daddy]

It's spelled "formerly", not "formally".

[The Interpreter]

Arp you ain't:

a. This is the United States of America, not Great Britain. Your comma and period, therefore, both go inside the quotation marks, not outside.

b. Yes, formerly is spelled differently than formally...but Obama Motors could very well formally be GM while in reality being a government creature...

[CoolBreeze]

Huh?

[The Interpreter]

See! One can sometimes be serendipitiously right without even knowing it!

[Hoosier Daddy]

Huh?? Well anyway, it got fixed.

[The Interpreter]

So did the neighbor's dog, but that's another story...

Terpy, who just HAD to